You’ve gotta love any message from a celebrity that starts with “People of Earth.” As reported in Variety:

Conan O’Brien to NBC: Drop dead.

O’Brien, who has kept his lips sealed so far over NBC’s decision to bump his show to midnight , other than cracking wise about it on “The Tonight Show” , is going public. And he’s not happy.

Here’s the complete statement:

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009.